Long time no see… read… whatever. Hi.
New Steps
I’m back after a long, unintentional hiatus. I was shocked when I went to my posting log and realized it had been so long since I’d written a check in. It’s amazing how time can just fly past like that. Oh well, I can only try and do better to pay attention from now on.
Like thousands of others, I am in full Preptober mode. NaNoWriMo is right around the corner, and I am trying to get my plan in place before it sneaks up on me. This year, my goal for the 50,000 words is to expand a short story of mine into three novellas. I think each will end up around 30-50k. I had originally planned on releasing it in its original form as a 20,000- word short story, but in the process of prepping it for publishing, I realized I wasn’t doing justice to my main character, Tucker. He has so much more story to be told. So, that became my goal this year.
Last year, I did a lot of my writing long hand on a legal pad. In fact, I have over a hundred pages that still need to be typed… from last November. Typing is not my favorite, but I also don’t love carrying around my laptop. Most of the writing I did last year was spontaneous and I didn’t have it with me. I did not have a lot of intentional writing sessions last year. This year, that will not be the case. I will have to be very intentional. One plan I have is to utilize my hour lunch break at work for writing time.
Because I don’t really want to take my laptop to work, I fear I will be handwriting again. To avoid having another hundred pages sitting in a binder waiting to be typed, I’m looking into text conversion software and a reusable notebook. Apparently, if I scan them into pdf form, One Note has a built-in writing to text conversion. Then paired with something like a Rocketbook that I can re-use, I will limit the amount of supplies I need. I have three weeks to figure out a plan.
The Breakdown
Thai Cave Rescue: Limited Series on Netflix
This is a dramatization of an incident that happened in 2018. Twelve members of the Thai youth soccer team, the Wild Boars, and their assistant coach were trapped in Tham Luang Cave in Thailand after a monsoon blew in unexpectedly and sent water flooding into the cave, cutting off the only way out.
I remember hearing about this story when it happened, but I didn’t realize so many people had been involved. Hundreds of military personnel and volunteers from all over the world came together to search for the boys. They were found ten days after they went missing, having survived inside the flooded cave without any supplies. Divers then got supplies into the cave to the boys and strategies were discussed on how to get them out before the cave fully flooded. They had meteorologists, master cave divers, US Air Force, Thai Seals, hydrologists, drillers, and forest service personnel. What wasn’t expected were all the others that showed up. People who cooked and did laundry, even hairdressers who offered free haircuts. Dive tanks and suits, camping gear, food, water… all donated from all over the world. And something that brought tears to my eyes, local farmers who consented to their young rice patties being flooded with water pumped from the cave to try and keep levels lower effectively ruining their livelihood for that growing season. Some of the solutions they came up with are insane and dangerous, but in the end, they pulled it off. Through their combined ingenuity and bravery, they were successful, rescuing the team fifteen days after they first disappeared, just in time as the waters continued to rise effectively cutting off any chance of a rescue. During the operations, only one person lost their life, a retired Thai Seal who was staging air tanks throughout the cave for the rescue attempt.
I loved how they portrayed the trial and error of the plan and watching how the plan had to change on the fly due to changing weather conditions was fascinating. This series is excellent and well worth watching.
Living Life
It is officially sweater weather outside and I am loving it. Autumn is my favorite time of year. I think, for me, it started out as being excited for the school year to start. I always loved school. Particularly college. I always felt like it was a new start for me, way more so than New Years has ever felt. Even now, it feels like a chance to reset and fix some broken stuff.
Then of course, there is all the cozy, hygge type stuff. Hot drinks, cuddling up with blankets and fuzzy socks. Settling in with a familiar story and good music. Opening the windows and letting the cool, crisp outside in to freshen up the stale apartment air. I love everything about it. I even decorated a little this year. I fell into the Hobby Lobby fall décor sale and almost didn’t make it out alive. But I came home with some pretty components that I put together to create some beautiful pieces that are strategically placed around the apartment. It is also the time of year that I love to check out some breweries, settle into some outdoor seating, listen to live music, and have a chat with interesting people. I did some of that yesterday. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that everyone is interesting in their own way if you listen.
As always, thanks for checking out the site, and I hope everyone is doing well. If you feel so inclined, check out my social media.
Comentarios